Dubai, United Arab Emirates, will host the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), in November 2023.
“They want the COP to deliver real, game-changing results because they see, as we do, that the world is not on track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement,” Majed said. Al Suwaidi, Director General of the COP28 office. , which plays a key role in diplomatic negotiations. “.
Governments agreed 8 years ago in the French capital to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius.
Average global temperatures are already around 1.2C higher than pre-industrial levels, and experts say the chances of hitting the ‘ambitious climate target’ are becoming increasingly unrealistic unless emissions are sharply reduced.
“We need everyone at the table to discuss with us how to achieve a deep reduction,” Al Suwaidi told The Associated Press on Friday.
He said, “We need oil and gas, industry, aviation and shipping. We need all sectors whose emissions are difficult to mitigate. We need everyone who can contribute what they can to reduce emissions.
Al-Suwaidi challenged the idea that the fossil fuel industry would undermine meaningful conversations about emissions, as it has done in the past.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the attitude of the industry has completely changed and they are engaged in an active conversation with us,” he said.
“We welcome any type of discussion, but it is the parties who will decide what this discussion will be and where we will go from there,” said the former Emirati ambassador to Spain.
COP28 President-elect Sultan Al Jaber stressed the need to reduce emissions, rather than ending the use of fossil fuels per se.
Al Suwaidi, who also has a background in the oil and gas sector, said the leaders of the United Arab Emirates were fully aware of the existential threat posed by global warming and were committed to switching from fossil fuels to renewable energies such as wind and solar.
Al-Suwaidi stressed, “We want to be part of this new economy. We are a country that is constantly moving towards transforming this future.”
Al Suwaidi said agreement on a global target for increased renewable energy in Dubai could send a positive message to those worried about the transformation needed to halt climate change.
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